Our First Road Trip 2024 in our 2020 Freedom Elite 28FE RV

PART 1: July 10 through July 21

Our First Road Trip 2024 in our 2020 Freedom Elite 28FE RV – Our journey begins in Sonoma County California heading up the coast on the 101 through to the middle of Washington. We will then make our way across to Yellowstone National Park. Then back west to California. A little over 2900 miles in 20 days.

I have never in my life been on such a trip. I planned it with absolutely no knowledge of the areas we will be traveling through, and I am so grateful for my Book Basset readers for giving me such wonderful suggestions.

July 10: Four Days before departure

Here I was all worried, while planning our road trip up the west coast, that was I was not finding enough fun things for my two teen boys, Wyatt (the oldest) and Cash. Now, after a few wonderful suggestions from you guys, I think I may have planned too much! GOOD. Tire these guys out. I can’t thank you all enough for the guidance so far. Right now I have gotten as far as Leavenworth Washington for the Adventure Park and Bavarian town. Now I just need to figure out if I should go North or south. I love the idea of long hikes through the Mt Baker National Forest. I really wanted to visit some of the national parks, but they don’t allow dogs! That has been a real bother in planning this whole trip. Thankfully I think with all that I have planned so far with the dogs, they will be super tired and more than happy to stay in the RV for a few hours.

July 11: Three Days before departure

I completely threw the whole, “We are just going to get in the motor-home and drive” plan out the window. I have spent the last few days planning every single moment of this trip. I know exactly where we are going, staying, and the activities we could do at each stop. Is it weird that I am actually freaking myself out? I have never done a trip like this before. I was feeling adventurous when I was working my way through Oregon, but now I have planned as far as Yellowstone. I also have The Arches, Moab, and Salt Lake City on the list. I feel like I keep swimming further and further out to sea without a life vest. I have to stop and take a breath sometimes. I will be fine. I am with my family and we will have so much fun. Thank you all for the suggestions and tips. Keep them coming!!!

At the point in the trip planning when I lose my marbles. I didn’t need those things, right??

July 12: Two Days before departure

I bought the jump rope. I mentioned that I was lying to myself putting a jump rope on my shopping list for the big road trip. My thought was to do a little cardio before I have to sit and drive for 3 or 4 hours a day. It’s a nice thought, but do you think I will actually do it? My money is on nope. Maybe the first few days, then after that the excuses will come out. I was also thinking I would bring a yoga mat to stretch a bit. Now I am just being ridiculous. I would like to think I don’t play into the Instagram life, but it does look kinda nice. Neither item takes up much space. It’s a pretty little lie. I will tape the recipe to the box the jump rope came in.

July 14: Our Journey Begins – Sonoma County CA to The Avenue of the Giants – Scotia

It was Friday afternoon when the fever returned and the chills started hitting. Wyatt had been fighting a cold with a fever since July 3rd. Covid tests came back negative, so we thought it was just a bad cold. Home remedies such as tea and honey mixed with over the counter medicine was given regularly. He seemed to be getting better, except for the awful coughs. The cough medicine the doctor prescribed seemed to help a little. Last Friday the fever returned. He was not looking good. An appointment in the doctors office with x-rays explained the long sickness. Pneumonia. The trip is canceled then, right? The doctor said not necessarily. He can still go since the first few days he would just be sitting in a motorhome anyways. Umm… Okaaaay.

Are we bad parents? We took the doctors advice and went on our grand adventure. I am a little shocked we are actually doing this. Wyatt’s pneumonia is a very slight case, and the medicine is working great. The cough is still horrible, but he seems perky. We left our house around 3pm and headed north on highway 101. Hubby took the first shift and got us to Willits, home of the Skunk Train. No time for that though. We needed to get to our first destination, Scotia. We are in the Avenue of the Giants. My gosh! The view while driving up was absolutely breathtaking. The redwoods are are so big you feel like a little bug scurrying on the forest floor. Except I was in a big motorhome towing a car. Surprisingly I did this with ease through the tight curvy roads. Unfortunately I drove right past a few roadside attractions I would have loved to visit. Turning around is not really an option. I gotta figure out how to catch those a bit better. I’m not too worried about this portion of the trip though. We live in this area and can visit it any time.

July 15: Scotia California to Brooking Oregon

I made plans and God laughed and laughed and laughed. Our plan was to leave Scotia ( by the Avenue of the Giants) and drive up the coast to Brookings, Oregon. Stopping off at attractions along the way. ERG! This time I was paying more attention to the signs and was quicker to Google attractions to see if we should stop. The first place that popped up was The Humbolt Botanical Gardens. The website looked AMAZING. We took the exit and parked the RV at the college next door. We detached the Honda Element we are towing, and all piled in. Hubby turned the key and… click click click. Dead battery. WHAT??? But it was running this morning! Something about how we are flat towing it drained the battery. ERG! So we hooked it back up to the RV and made our way up the coast 10 minutes to an O’Reilly auto parts store. We were barely out of the car, when a gentleman that worked there was asking if we needed help. He checked our battery to be sure it was okay and charged it up at no cost. SPIFFY!!! We bought a battery charger from him so we could figure out what was going on later. From there hubby and the baby bassets were driving in the RV, and I followed behind in the Honda Element to make sure the car ran okay. As disappointing at it was with the battery dying, and not being able to see the Humbolt Botanical Gardens, things worked out well for us. We were able to get on the road and make our way to Brookings.

I was a little nervous at first to be driving alone behind the RV in an place I did not know, but it turned out to be an amazing drive. The drive started through downtown Humboldt up the 101. I am trying to remember this correctly, so I might be all over the place. The drive up the 101 was filled with massive redwoods that looked like x-mas trees, followed by curvy roads up hill that gave you glimpses of the ocean. I was thrilled when the traffic slowed to a crawl to slowly pass a heard of elk that was crowding the road. I yelled (at no one) to look at the baby elk!!! So cool. It made the hour and a half solo drive fun, exciting, and pass very quickly. Before we knew it we were in Brookings OR. The car battery issue took up a lot of our time, so we didn’t have as much time as I need to visit Brookings. First stop, after we checked into the RV park, was Harris Beach. People were not kidding when they said it was a must see. Hubby, the boys, the pups, and I strolled along the beach, dodged waves, and climbed a few rocks to get a better look at the ocean. Below is a picture of my oldest baby basset with a stick. Gotta love a good stick, right?? After Harris Beach we made our way to Chetco Point Park. Ummm… I did not read the fine print that said that you parked next to the wastewater treatment plant. YUCK! But once you got past it, the short hike is amazing.

July 16: Brookings Oregon to Florence Oregon

ON THE ROAD AGAIN! Just can’t wait to get on the road again… and right into another O’Reilly’s auto shop parking lot. Hubby was trying to show me how to hook up the car to the RV to tow. He asked me to grab the little wire under the dash, so I did. Apparently he didn’t like the wire I grabbed. “Why did you yanked the wire out??!!” he asked. I told him the wire was just dangling there. Apparently it shouldn’t have been, and we soon discovered that a fuse had blown as well. Maybe because of the wire. Who knows. Not a problem. Hubby bought a huge pack of spare fuses, that were right on the kitchen counter at home. Geez. Back to O’Reilly’s auto shop. It’s a little freaky that everywhere we go there is an O’Reilly’s. Are they stalking us? After 45 minutes in their parking lot messing with a loose wire and a fuse, we were back on the 101 north to Florence, Oregon. Unfortunately because of the delays we didn’t arrive here until 3:30. After getting checked in and settled in at the campsite, things were closing for the day. Plus it was going to rain soon. We popped into the car and headed downtown to get an ice cream and go for a quick walk along the pier. Super cute town.

July 17: Florence Oregon

This morning at 3am hubby was shuffling around the RV and woke me up. He went outside and after a few minutes came back in. “We have no water.” ERG!!!!!! Back to O’Reilly’s??? Nope. This time it was the whole campground that was having water issues. When they said to expect a few set-backs when you go on road trips I didn’t think they meant on a daily basis. Hubby also discovered a water leak under the RV. I am thinking about just ignoring the bad news. If I just sit quietly and don’t say anything, all will be okay. We still have plenty of cookies, so life is good right now. Oh.. I also threw my back out today. (sound of bag of cookies being opened) Chomp chomp chomp..nibble nibble nibble… (sound of another bag of cookies being opened).

First thing in the morning we went to the Seal Lions Caves. I drove over there and it was absolute terror for me. The road is right on the edge of the steepest, scariest cliffs. But I sucked it up and did it… FOR MY BOYS! After that we enjoy a scenic ride through the sand dunes on a giant dune-buggy, spent two hours at the Oregon Military Museum (amazing), and then enjoyed ice cream downtown walking around checking out the cute shops. All the while though I was thinking about how I would have to do that drive with the cliffs again the next day. I just have to keep telling myself, “For My Boys!”

July 18 & 19: Florence Oregon to Sea View Washington

This morning I feel like I was hit by a Mack truck (July 19th). I am really starting to question how I planned this trip. Yesterday was a long hard day. We left Florence, Oregon 7:50 am because we knew it was going to be a lot of driving and there were a few places we wanted to visit along the way. As you can see we survived the cliffs along the coast. The fear I had for that portion of the drive took about 7 years off my life. After that, the drive was rather pleasant. Our first stop was The Connie Hansen Garden Conservatory. About an an hour and forty five minutes up highway 101. Beautiful little garden. It was so delightful to walk through the winding paths that had secret little hidden gardens. It was great that I could take my pups through it as well.

Then it was back in the motorhome for the hour long trek to the Tillamook Cheese factory. I can see why they say this is a must see place. The self guided tour was fun. Seeing how the cheese is made and packaged was very interesting. Not sure how the employees feel about being watched all the time. My favorite part was the free cheese. At the end of the tour we picked up a few stickers, and ice cream to have for lunch.

Then we hit the road again for the last two hours of the journey. We were supposed to stop in Cannon Beach and see the Goonies house, but it was way too crowded, so we decided to make our way to the next campsite. We arrived around 3:30. I’m not gonna lie. I think it was at this point we all kinda broke.

When we got to the campsite and were getting settled in, our sweet pup Casper decided he was going to pee on my seat. Even though my son Cash had just taken both of them for a walk. On that walk Cash stepped in dog poo. He was not thrilled. He changed shoes and took the poopy pair to the bathrooms to clean them. On his way back he stepped in another pile of dog poo, but this one got inside his Crocks. It was at that moment he was DONE DONE! A little while later Casper, in some crazy manic dance, peed all over the couch, dinette, and my hubby’s computer. Hubby was now DONE DONE. All the while I am watching this hot mess happen I have developed a ripping headache and a bad dry cough. My pup Junebug was in my arms the whole time, probably wondering  what madness this was. We had a moment of peace when hubby made dinner, and after I cleaned the dishes. My oldest, whose seems to be recovering from the pneumonia just fine, spent the late afternoon and evening doing homework. Cash seems to be getting sick with a headache and a bad cough. I think we are all just so tired. Hubby and I really need to look at the rest of the trip and decide if there should be some changes. Maybe shorten the trip and have more multiple night stays in a few locations.  I knew this road trip would be a lot. I think our brains can handle it, but I am not so sure about our bodies.

July 19 – Sea View Washington

I had a lot planned for today in Seaside Oregon and Cannon Beach. It’s 10:30 and the boys are still in bed. Hubby and I have done a little work and are just now starting breakfast. It might just be a day of rest.

A FEW HOURS LATER – Nope. It would not be a day of rest for us. Noon hit and hubby was getting restless. Hubby said I could stay back and rest, but I certainly didn’t want to miss out on the fun.

By 1pm we were all out the door. First stop was Ecola State Park. The narrow winding road up the mountain was a bit nerve racking for me, but well worth it. The views of the coastline and the short hikes were so much fun. Unfortunately my youngest wasn’t looking so hot. He was developing a bad cough, had red eyes, and was getting a fever. He said he was fine, but his body language told a different story.

After spending some time at the top of the mountain, we headed back down to the downtown area to get a good close up look of Haystack Rock. In such a busy area it was a miracle that we got a parking spot just a block from the beach entrance. A quick stop at a Mini-mart to get some Dayquil, gave my boy the quick fix needed to get him through the rest of the day. After a quick look and a few pictures of Haystack Rock, we were back in the car heading to the Seaside Aquarium.

I can say right now my favorite part of the aquarium is the fact that you can bring your dog inside. It’s a super small aquarium with only one room, and that was just perfect. With how intense this trip is, the smaller the better. A quick walk down the promenade to view the coastline and see a few sandcastles, made for a great afternoon. We ended our visit with a delicious treat from Sea Star Gelato.

Now what would be a day in this trip where something wasn’t broken? After Ecola State Park and Seaside we stopped off at Home Depot for some supplies. Every time we took a shower, water leaked out and seeped under the walls and into the bedroom. I had thought we were just being sloppy, but after watching the water pour out between the curtain rail and the pan, I realized nothing was sealed. Poor hubby had to take apart the whole shower door and seal it with 30 minute dry caulk. It was a pretty straight forward and easy project, but SERIOUSLY!!??? While he was working on that my youngest was lying in bed looking pretty bad. A quick check revealed a fever. My oldest had recovered from Communal Pneumonia, and I thought we were in the clear. My youngest Cash’s fever is telling a different story. It’s called Communal for a reason. The dry cough has hit me as well and I am having a hard time breathing. Well.. ERG!!!! I have a request in to the doctor to give us a call, but I have also Googled all the hospitals on the way to our next destination, Seattle!

July 20 – Sea View, Washington to Seattle, Washington

I had us packed and out the door by 7:45. My youngest was looking worse and worse, and I was having a hard time breathing. I Googled Kaiser Urgent Care facilities that were on the way to Seattle and found one in Tacoma. It was a 2.5 hour drive. Perfect. The 2.5 hours gave me the time I needed to call the advice nurses and doctors for my son and me. I also wanted to see how much each of the options cost. $3000 each for emergency room visits, or $40 each for urgent care. Hmm.. what should I pick??? Seriously! I could be bleeding out my eyes and I still wouldn’t step foot in the emergency room.

We arrived at urgent care around 12:30. Both Cash and I were checked in and put in a room pretty quick. He was shivering, and coughing pretty bad. He said he was just fine. Um, No you’re not. After a quick chat with the doctor I was put on a nebulizer and Cash was wrapped up like a cute little burrito. The doc said it’s not likely pneumonia, because its not contagious like the flu or a cold. I was really relieved to hear that.

2 hours later, Covid and flu tests come back negative, but Cash and I both had pneumonia. The doctor was a bit shocked by this. “How are you guys sleeping at night?” She just kept looking at us weird and confused. We grabbed our meds from the pharmacy and were back on the road.

As usual we were pulling in late to our campsite at about 4pm. Cash and I had taken our first dose of meds and they made me feel horrible. I was able to muster up the strength to go for dinner at a delightful Latin and Asian inspired restaurant called Ta’ Joia in Bothell Washington. Despite feeling so bad, I gobbled my dinner down. DELICIOUS! Then it was back to the RV and to bed.

Hubby and my oldest Wyatt, hopped in the car to check out the Space Needle. Cash and I just couldn’t do it. We stayed back and rested.

July 21 – Seattle Washington to Leavenworth Washington

I woke up this morning feeling horrible. I coughed a good part of the night and I had a ripping headache. The one good part of being up most of the night coughing was I noticed neither of my sons were coughing. SHWEET!! I don’t mind pushing myself, but I don’t want to push the boys if they are too sick. A shot of Dayquill and I am good to go. We were planning on visiting the Space Needle and the Museum of Pop culture this morning, but it might be too much for Cash and I. I am disappointed, but it is what it is.

This morning’s repair on the RV are two drawers that are no longer latching shut. They keep flying open at sharp turns. I think it will just be painters tape for a quick temporary fix.

Later that day – Oh my gosh. It is almost comical how many things go wrong on this trip. The boys and I spent a few hours waiting in a parking lot across from the hospital. This morning hubby was starting to feel ill. Worried he might have pneumonia as well we found the closest urgent care and got him checked out. The good news is his x-rays came back clear. The bad news is we lost a full day that would have been spent in Leavenworth, WA checking out the cute Bavarian town. But it’s a small price to pay for peace of mind. We arrived around 5:30, got settled into our home for two days and spent the rest of the day taking it easy. I have been really looking forward to visiting Leavenworth. Crossing my fingers everything works out.

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